From Zero to GraphQL Hero: Consuming APIs with Powershell

This session will provide an in-depth look at using Powershell to interact with GraphQL-based APIs. The presentation will begin with an overview of GraphQL, including its data model and query language, and will demonstrate how to use Powershell to make queries and mutations against GraphQL APIs. Attendees will learn how to use Powershell to access and manipulate data from GraphQL APIs, and will gain a better understanding of how to integrate GraphQL into their Powershell scripts and applications. The presentation will also discuss some of the benefits of using GraphQL with Powershell, including its flexibility and ability to access multiple data sources with a single query. Additionaly, we'll explore many tools and extensions for VSCode that can help you along your GraphQL journey. By the end of the presentation, attendees will have a strong foundation in using Powershell to consume GraphQL APIs.

From Chaos to Control: Using PoshBot to Build Your Own Digital Assistant for IT Operations

In this session, attendees will learn how to use PoshBot to create their own digital assistant for IT Operations. The benefits of having a personal digital assistant include increased productivity and efficiency, improved communication and collaboration, and reduced workload and stress. The session will cover topics such as setting up a PoshBot instance, creating custom commands and plugins for common IT tasks, and integrating the digital assistant with tools such as Slack and JIRA. Attendees will also learn about some of the advanced features of PoshBot, such as natural language processing and custom plugin development.

By the end of the session, attendees will have a solid understanding of how to build their own digital assistant for IT Operations using PoshBot, as well as the benefits of having a personal digital assistant.

Mastering the Art of Adaptation: Unleashing Your Learning Potential in the Ever-Changing IT Realm

Embark on a transformative journey with us in our session, "Mastering the Art of Adpatation," where we delve into the dynamic world of IT. As sysadmins, developers, consultants, and IT professionals, we navigate through a landscape that evolves incessantly, introducing novel and more efficient processes to organizations globally.

Despite our innate desire to absorb new concepts, the perpetual challenge we face is the scarcity of time and space for learning amidst the demands of server maintenance, code compilation, and documentation creation. How can we optimize the limited time available to stay abreast of emerging technologies while safeguarding our well-being?

Join us as we strip away complexity and return to the fundamentals. In this session, we'll unravel the mysteries of our incredible learning machine—the human brain—introducing mindfulness as a powerful tool to enhance cognitive function. Explore a spectrum of mental models and personalized techniques designed to amplify your learning capacity, all while avoiding the pitfalls of burnout.

Discover how mindfulness practices can contribute to a resilient mindset, allowing you to navigate the ever-changing IT landscape with grace. Backed by science, our session provides a holistic approach to learning, emphasizing not just the acquisition of knowledge but the sustainable integration of new skills.

Walk away from this session armed with practical strategies, mental frameworks, and a mindful approach, empowering you to maximize your learning potential in the face of constant change without sacrificing your well-being. It's time to elevate your learning game, cultivate mindfulness, and thrive in the ever-evolving IT landscape!

This is not really a technical session, but a session focussed around how we in the IT field need to constantly learn new technologies. This session talks about ways we can maximize learning!

Have a REST API? Want a PowerShell module? Let's do this!

Today's modern web standards are a driving force behind the influx of in-house and vendor products providing RESTful API interfaces. Functionality which was once siloed and proprietary is now being exposed via APIs - allowing us to stitch together and automate many pieces of our infrastructure.

That said, consuming APIs is not for the faint of heart - for a lot of people dealing with headers, bodies, and tokens can be a mind-boggling task. Wrapping a PowerShell module around our exposed APIs can help with this, abstracting away all the traditional API complexities and leaving end-users with more comfortable Verb-Noun cmdlets.

This session will dive into the many ways to develop a PowerShell module around a RESTful API interface. We will discuss everything from the ups and downs of using auto-generating tools such as AutoREST to the advantages and disadvantages of building a custom code around your API endpoints. Attendees will leave with some real-world experience around the different ways to structure and format their own modules when looking to build a PowerShell REST API wrapper module.

ChatOps - Relax and let the robots do their thing!

ChatBots have long been used in the automated customer support agent space but there is much much more we can accomplish with these conversational interfaces. Imagine sending a DM in Slack to discover any infrastructure issues before they unfold? Or simply asking Alexa to let you know if any scheduled tasks, backups or processes have failed. Or even just casually chatting with your infrastructure without leaving the comfort of your favorite messaging platform? In this session we will dive into why ChatOps is important, the various options available, as well as dive into how to quickly set up a bot using AWS Lex & Lambda, connecting to on-premises infrastructure APIs so you too can chat with your infrastructure.